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Becoming Our Own Wise One, by Stewart Bitkoff

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

There are as many ways to God as there are created souls.—Muhammad

In our culture, who assumes the role of holy or wise one? In more traditional cultures the holy, wise one is a central figure. Often, they advise the king/queen, sit at the right hand of the chief, understand human behavior and prescribe medicine, help pass along the oral history of the tribe, and have an inner connection with universal wisdom and Truth. When a difficult societal issue arises, this individual is central in helping decide direction or outcome. Daily, they are consulted on a variety of issues.

Today, this diverse role and function has been spread across a team of specialists. For guidance, we go to a priest, counselor, doctor, psychologist, historian, politician, or lawyer, depending on the nature of the issue. Because of the complexity of some issues, this specialist may not even live in our own community, and to consult them we make an appointment, months in advance, travel to get the advice/treatment, and pay a fee.

This specialist model has pluses and minuses. Specialists, because of training, have information and expertise not available to others. In some endeavors, these people are essential and our culture cannot be without them. However, by separating out problems and going to others for solutions, we lose sight of the fact that, for the most part, it is possible to manage our own concerns. Within the wise one model, one person, who is readily accessible, knows us, and is part of our tribe/family, can solve a majority of issues.

In both models, the holy/wise one and specialist model, there is reliance upon others. While it is important in today's technological world to have the option to consult a specialist, we have generally forgotten our own individual potential and multi-level capacities. With training, we can become our own source of wisdom and through inner perception manage a wide range of daily issues, consulting with specialists as indicated.

Gradually, we are returning to a model of self-reliance and individual responsibility. We are shifting away from dependence upon others and searching for our own inner wisdom to manage our life. Tomorrow each person will be their own wise one, consulting with specialists far less frequently and only when required. This is the next stage in the evolutionary process.

Building Self-Reliance
How will this shift in personal awareness occur? We are in the beginning stages of it. Look around and notice the increasing interest in different religious philosophies that maximize individual human potential and how so many are returning to spirituality-based living. See the general discontent in the way government is being run and the growing awareness that neither republicans nor democrats can save us. From the outside, our way of life is being attacked by terrorists who want to return to a more traditional and religion-based social system (as defined by them). It is generally recognized that greed in the market place is destroying our middle class. The family fabric is being strained with couples having to work three jobs. Soon we will be a society of rich and poor.

Many are beginning to wonder, what went wrong? Also, many are searching for real, lasting answers.

We are living in an age when people are turning away from authority-based in favor of individual-based action. Over time, many have realized that we have given up too much responsibility to authority, government, and institutions, and gradually people are taking back control of their lives and working locally to solve their own problems.

The shift has occurred and will continue. Remember—a better world is created one person at a time.

A Missing Ingredient
In order to create better, more complete people, we have to add the missing spiritual ingredient. This enriching element balances individual greed and helps the individual realize that because of our complex world, often our best interest is served helping our neighbor. For example, we may have to spend money to upgrade the air filtering capacity of our car engine so that we have clean air to breathe. This may cost personally, but in the long run the air quality of everyone is healthier.

According to the mystic, the missing ingredient and balancing factor is higher consciousness. This consciousness, because of its alignment with Truth, enables the individual to work toward collective interest. his potential is latent in everyone, and its individual development and operation will help save us; we can then continue with our own evolution.

Personal spiritual development is a new frontier and area of inquiry. How can each traveler develop inner wisdom and reach higher consciousness? How can each become a wise man/woman and achieve excellence in their daily life?

There is a way to do this, but we have forgotten where and how to look. The next phase will see its full reemergence.

How do I go about finding the missing ingredient? Turn back to the religion of your birth; become a better Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, etc. Seek the inner core of religious experience: do not be satisfied with the outer shell of religious teaching and fossilized rules created by others. Find your own inner, vibrant Truth, and become a spiritual traveler. Each of the great religions provides a structure or framework from which to begin the inner journey of exploration of self and higher consciousness.

And, if for some reason, your journey is restricted by the religion of your birth, seek Truth and higher consciousness in another spiritual path. Pray and ask for a different way to open to you. Pray for a guide and teacher who will show you your own inner potential and teach awareness of your own growing spirituality. Find a teacher that is aligned with Truth and who will give you tools to uncover your own strength and teach you how to proceed on your own.

In this endeavor, three factors must be aligned: the student, the teacher, and the grace (Baraka) of the path.

It is tradition that the teacher calls to the student's sincerity or purity of heart; this is the factor that enables the student to be successful.

How do you grow sincere in your efforts? Seek Truth or wisdom for its own sake not for what it will give you. Seek Truth because you love and must know it. Then, as The Light or God wills, the golden or inner path will open to you.

This is the balancing factor, the missing ingredient. One day this awareness will be as common as the growing realization that there is an underlying or connecting energy in the universe.

Balanced Living
Until I achieve this inner understanding, what am I to do? Try to live a good, balanced life. Achieve excellence in something. Seek to help others and develop the many aspects of yourself. Make time to listen to your inner song. Stay away from that which is destructive. Do things in moderation and try not to hurt anyone. Be kind to yourself and others. Be a good loving person that is an asset to their family, community, and world.

If you do these things, in time, the inner missing ingredient will develop. As it develops, it will help you fully utilize all of your skills and abilities. Added spiritual capacity is a balancing and enabling element, helping the traveler reach human excellence and completion.

And when this occurs, you will be a king/queen in this world and the next, having your own inner wise one to consult.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2009. All rights reserved.

I've had the same recurring dream for the past eight years. In it, I am living in a mansion, and in every dream I find a new room. This place is filled with unspeakable beauty, and the feelings I feel in this dream are priceless. It feels like a very profound dream, but I don't know what it means. Any ideas? - Kisses

Dreamchaser:

This dream is a clear message that you are not being true to yourself. You are living a life of duty instead of living the life that you want to live.

The mansion is your life, and your life is a beautiful thing. You have gifts and potentials that are absolutely mind-boggling, but you have chosen to stay in a place that feels safe to you. I would venture to say that the last ten years or so of your life have been pretty miserable.

I will use myself as an example. At one point, I was working in an accounting firm in a job I hated. I was in a relationship that was so destructive I can't find the words to describe how miserable we were. I was holding love, money, happiness, etc., away from myself because of the choices I was making.

I was absolutely miserable on ALL levels because I was not allowing myself access to my own mansion. Once I got rid of the man and the job and started to reach for something better, my whole life started to change.

You are doing the same thing. You may not be living the same circumstances, but you are most definitely not being true to yourself. This dream is your subconscious mind showing you how your life could be. As you wrote, This place is filled with unspeakable beauty, and the feelings I feel in this dream are priceless.

The rooms signify parts of your life and parts of yourself that you have yet to consciously discover. The feelings that you feel while in these rooms are the feelings that you could feel in your own life every single day. Because of your current life choices, however, you are not allowing yourself access to those joys, possessions, people, places, gifts and feelings.

I know that we put ourselves in positions that are very hard to change. We get into unfulfilling marriages, and then even though we're not really happy, we trap ourselves further by buying a bigger house or having another baby.

We get into unfulfilling jobs, and we justify staying there even though we hate it because the hours work for us, or the benefits are great, or some other reason.

The truth is that we are scared to change things, because we don't know what things would be like th en. What if we got divorced and never found another person to love? What if we quit our job and hated the new one, or got fired or the company went bankrupt?

We can dream up all sorts of reasons to NOT change things, but we only have one reason TO change things. You have unspeakable beauty and priceless feelings waiting for you. That is your reason. You can choose to change your life.

I wish you keys to all those lovely rooms!

*****

Astrea:

When I do past life readings, I often focus upon times in which the person was not incarnate here on Earth - on their Celestial Incarnations. I don't think it's possible for a soul to continue to be born human, suffer, and die over and over again without having at least some periods of rest.

The degree to which we remember or dream of our past lives varies from one person to another. Some people have vague memories of their Celestial Incarnations, but most of us don't. Your dreams are your memories of the place you were in between physical lives. Many people call this place heaven.

Not everyone we meet is coming from The Purpose. Some people incarnate for just one life here; they have never been here before, and never will be again. It's different for those of us who have been here before.

Everyone I encounter who knows they've lived as a human on the Earth before seems to have at least SOME inkling of what life is like beyond this dimension. Even if they don't have conscious memories of living before, people, places and things come to them in dreams which are not of this Earth. That's the experience you're having now.

People who have recently crossed over spend some time recuperating before they incarnate on Earth again. Our souls head for paradise to be rejuvenated and energized. It's here that we can visit with loved ones in both our physical families and our Soul Families who have passed through the Veil before us.

Here there are lots of soul mates for us, many of whom we may not have met in our most recent physical life. This is when Soul Contracts are entered into, when we agree to experience certain things or meet up with certain people when we incarnate again.

The mansion you visit is a Soul Home for you. You were there many times before in Celestial Incarnations. Even if you don't recognize every room, you remember them on some level.

Paradise has an unspeakable beauty and an indescribable smell. From time to time, I have spent brief moments in your mansion. On the rare occasions that a friend or relative has taken me with them for a few minutes, I remember the smells of the flowers most of all. The place is pure delight.

Throughout the New Testament and in many of the books that were left out of the Bible, there are detailed descriptions of the place you're dreaming about. The people who wrote about Him say that Jesus said, In my Father's House there are many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:1)

That's where you are in those dreams. You've been there before, and you'll be there again.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.